Art Gallery
Throughout the year, the walls of the Clubhouse host the work of different artists.
April/May 2019
Throughout April and May the Clubhouse walls will be decorated with prints collected by Rose Mooney and her husband Gerry. Rose has sent a short text for Passport about the family's collection.
One of my greatest joys in life is visiting art exhibitions and art galleries. The collection on display during April and May is an eclectic mix of oil paintings, watercolours, engravings and prints which I have collected on my travels in France, Italy, and Spain as well as from art exhibitions here in Belgium. Due to the fact that my husband and I will be moving in the course of this year from our house to an apartment, which is a much smaller space, I have had to accept the fact that we simply cannot take them all with us. My hope is that they will find a loving home and at the same time benefit the Club as I will be donating part of the proceeds to our much needed Clubhouse Staircase Fund." Members are very welcome to join Rose and her husband for a vernissage on Sunday 14 April at 15.00.
February 2019
We have a double treat for February and March in having two club artists, Rosemary Breger and Fiona Carson showing their work. Their styles are completely different, Rosemary is a water colourist whereas Fiona paints only with a palette knife using acrylics. These two techniques differ widely but in a strange way complement each other. Please come to their interesting vernissage on Sunday 10 February, starting at 15.00 and read further below each artists’ thoughts on their artistic journey to this exhibition.
Fiona Carson My first foray into the world of painting at the age of 14 was short-lived. At my very academic school, only those going to the Glasgow School of art carried on with art after the third year. I was not one of those, but to my huge surprise the new art teacher awarded the end of year first place to myself and another equally untalented girl. We then had to attend the Glasgow Schools’ Art Competition at the Museum and Art Gallery. We were thrilled to get out of school but less happy when we found that we were expected to do REAL painting. Copying Old Masters, painting stuffed tigers etc. Luckily we discovered a simple cactus, painted quickly and left. The teacher came to see what we had achieved but we had gone!! So ended my short artistic career! However 50 years later I bravely took the step of joining Christophe Castiaux’s acrylic class. After a couple of disastrous efforts with a brush he handed me a painting knife and the world of painting opened up for me. I paint landscapes of places I love and am so grateful to Christophe for encouraging and teaching me with such patience and humour. I have lots to learn but improving is part of the fun!
Rosemary Breger Age does have benefits. You’ve just got to look for them...with your glasses on. The older I get, the more convinced I am of the need to seize the moment, savour, enjoy, be inspired. So I paint and write. I look for light, delight, colour, humour. Aiming to reproduce any of the latter turns out, for me, to be an exercise where humility needs to be balanced or reinvigorated by playfulness. In the end, it is the joyous but frustrating energy of creating that keeps me going
January 2019
Our Clubhouse will be decorated with paintings by a Swedish artist. Anna Olsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1968. She studied at Stockholm Art School and further Art History at Stockholm University.
Following a career in marketing and sales in Sweden her path then brought her to the European Commission in Belgium. Living in Brussels for more than 20 years she has recently taken up her art again and shares her paintings with a broader public.
Anna confirms: The last exhibition in Brussels was a great success and I now want to repeat the happiness in sharing my art with others. I am proud to present my art at the British and Commonwealth Women's Club in Woluwe Saint Pierre. The vernissage is Sunday 13 January, between 15.00 and 18.00, Welcome!
This time I want to present a wider range of my art. True, there will be some paintings in line with the previous exhibition ‘Reflections’ where I mainly focused on water lilies and reflections in water. A complete joy of different colours and shades of the day combined with the stillness of water and their reflections.
There will also be tulips – my absolute favourite flower. And roses. And other types of flowers. What would life be without flowers? Their kind and gentle habit of bringing happiness and colour to our lives.
There will also be other types of work. I have recently focused more on faces and human expressions of feelings. My idea was to capture tranquillity, joy, happiness amongst friends as well as the completeness of life when sniffing the scent of a new-born baby.
You can see a selection of my paintings on the website: http://www.connemaraprogramme.com/anna/index.htm
Throughout April and May the Clubhouse walls will be decorated with prints collected by Rose Mooney and her husband Gerry. Rose has sent a short text for Passport about the family's collection.
One of my greatest joys in life is visiting art exhibitions and art galleries. The collection on display during April and May is an eclectic mix of oil paintings, watercolours, engravings and prints which I have collected on my travels in France, Italy, and Spain as well as from art exhibitions here in Belgium. Due to the fact that my husband and I will be moving in the course of this year from our house to an apartment, which is a much smaller space, I have had to accept the fact that we simply cannot take them all with us. My hope is that they will find a loving home and at the same time benefit the Club as I will be donating part of the proceeds to our much needed Clubhouse Staircase Fund." Members are very welcome to join Rose and her husband for a vernissage on Sunday 14 April at 15.00.
February 2019
We have a double treat for February and March in having two club artists, Rosemary Breger and Fiona Carson showing their work. Their styles are completely different, Rosemary is a water colourist whereas Fiona paints only with a palette knife using acrylics. These two techniques differ widely but in a strange way complement each other. Please come to their interesting vernissage on Sunday 10 February, starting at 15.00 and read further below each artists’ thoughts on their artistic journey to this exhibition.
Fiona Carson My first foray into the world of painting at the age of 14 was short-lived. At my very academic school, only those going to the Glasgow School of art carried on with art after the third year. I was not one of those, but to my huge surprise the new art teacher awarded the end of year first place to myself and another equally untalented girl. We then had to attend the Glasgow Schools’ Art Competition at the Museum and Art Gallery. We were thrilled to get out of school but less happy when we found that we were expected to do REAL painting. Copying Old Masters, painting stuffed tigers etc. Luckily we discovered a simple cactus, painted quickly and left. The teacher came to see what we had achieved but we had gone!! So ended my short artistic career! However 50 years later I bravely took the step of joining Christophe Castiaux’s acrylic class. After a couple of disastrous efforts with a brush he handed me a painting knife and the world of painting opened up for me. I paint landscapes of places I love and am so grateful to Christophe for encouraging and teaching me with such patience and humour. I have lots to learn but improving is part of the fun!
Rosemary Breger Age does have benefits. You’ve just got to look for them...with your glasses on. The older I get, the more convinced I am of the need to seize the moment, savour, enjoy, be inspired. So I paint and write. I look for light, delight, colour, humour. Aiming to reproduce any of the latter turns out, for me, to be an exercise where humility needs to be balanced or reinvigorated by playfulness. In the end, it is the joyous but frustrating energy of creating that keeps me going
January 2019
Our Clubhouse will be decorated with paintings by a Swedish artist. Anna Olsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1968. She studied at Stockholm Art School and further Art History at Stockholm University.
Following a career in marketing and sales in Sweden her path then brought her to the European Commission in Belgium. Living in Brussels for more than 20 years she has recently taken up her art again and shares her paintings with a broader public.
Anna confirms: The last exhibition in Brussels was a great success and I now want to repeat the happiness in sharing my art with others. I am proud to present my art at the British and Commonwealth Women's Club in Woluwe Saint Pierre. The vernissage is Sunday 13 January, between 15.00 and 18.00, Welcome!
This time I want to present a wider range of my art. True, there will be some paintings in line with the previous exhibition ‘Reflections’ where I mainly focused on water lilies and reflections in water. A complete joy of different colours and shades of the day combined with the stillness of water and their reflections.
There will also be tulips – my absolute favourite flower. And roses. And other types of flowers. What would life be without flowers? Their kind and gentle habit of bringing happiness and colour to our lives.
There will also be other types of work. I have recently focused more on faces and human expressions of feelings. My idea was to capture tranquillity, joy, happiness amongst friends as well as the completeness of life when sniffing the scent of a new-born baby.
You can see a selection of my paintings on the website: http://www.connemaraprogramme.com/anna/index.htm
November 2018
The November Gallery will continue with Molly Tchokanova's work on display until 14 November and then with Christmas in mind, a special winter gallery is being arranged with the help of clubhouse artists. They have kindly offered to work with Molly and Christophe to show some of their winter themed paintings complementing the club's Christmas decorations. This gallery will be on view until the first week in January 2019. Two winter themed watercolours, one done by Edith De Rijdt and the other by Saba Olsen have been made into end of the year cards and will be on sale shortly with all proceeds going to BCWCB charities. Keep your eyes out for them , they are very nice and useful to have.
Linda Davidson, Gallery Coordinator
September 2018
The September Gallery artist is the photographer Guy Odent. His exhibition will be held from the beginning of September through to mid-October. Please read the article below in which he explains how his love of photography developed and the ideas behind this latest exhibition. (Thank you to Kathy Whalley for the translation from French).
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I was born in Comines, Belgium in 1955 and I am a self taught photographer. My passion for images and for photography in particular, dates back to the early 1990s. My first trip to Scotland triggered this passion which made me want to share with others it's beautiful landscapes, it's pure colours and the traditions and warmth of the people. There were more trips to follow...to France, Crete, Mauritania and Morocco, returning to the highlands of Scotland as well as to my beautiful Belgium.
Since 2000 I have been linked to an association which has helped me improve my technique and through digital photography I have learnt how to correct and 'change' photos. By 2009 I was exhibiting my work which allowed me to share my vision with a larger audience.
In 2015, I joined l'Atelier de l'Image in Tourinnes-la-Grosse where I could further develop my technical skills while gaining more experience.
The BCWCB exhibition is composed of three themes. The first two series are a group of black and white photographs of Scotland and Mauritania which will allow you to see these countries through my lens. The third series is a set of coloured photographs entitled 'Têtes et Noeuds' (Heads and Knots) which will transport you to an imaginary world of animals and people. I wish you happy travelling while viewing the exhibition.
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Guy Odent is offering a 'meet and greet' event towards the end of this exhibition on the afternoon of Sunday 7 October. All club members friends and family are invited to this informal get together. The time will be announced in the October edition of Passport.
The September Gallery artist is the photographer Guy Odent. His exhibition will be held from the beginning of September through to mid-October. Please read the article below in which he explains how his love of photography developed and the ideas behind this latest exhibition. (Thank you to Kathy Whalley for the translation from French).
-0-0-0-
I was born in Comines, Belgium in 1955 and I am a self taught photographer. My passion for images and for photography in particular, dates back to the early 1990s. My first trip to Scotland triggered this passion which made me want to share with others it's beautiful landscapes, it's pure colours and the traditions and warmth of the people. There were more trips to follow...to France, Crete, Mauritania and Morocco, returning to the highlands of Scotland as well as to my beautiful Belgium.
Since 2000 I have been linked to an association which has helped me improve my technique and through digital photography I have learnt how to correct and 'change' photos. By 2009 I was exhibiting my work which allowed me to share my vision with a larger audience.
In 2015, I joined l'Atelier de l'Image in Tourinnes-la-Grosse where I could further develop my technical skills while gaining more experience.
The BCWCB exhibition is composed of three themes. The first two series are a group of black and white photographs of Scotland and Mauritania which will allow you to see these countries through my lens. The third series is a set of coloured photographs entitled 'Têtes et Noeuds' (Heads and Knots) which will transport you to an imaginary world of animals and people. I wish you happy travelling while viewing the exhibition.
-0-0-0-
Guy Odent is offering a 'meet and greet' event towards the end of this exhibition on the afternoon of Sunday 7 October. All club members friends and family are invited to this informal get together. The time will be announced in the October edition of Passport.